Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism

by Sarah Wynn-Williams

Irrespective, he blames other people for all of those things, including forgetting the passport. I guess that’s what it’s like to live in a bubble, like Mark does. But a bubble implies flimsy transparency, a diaphanous space where you can see a normal life just beyond your grasp. And what Mark inhabits is more like a thick opaque dome, a murky fortress that separates him from the rest of the world. When you have so many other people doing things for you professionally and personally, you stop taking responsibility for any of it. Max Weber said that dealing with unintended consequences of your actions is what political responsibility is. This guy can’t even take responsibility for leaving his passport at home, let alone influencing the US election. Andrea throws herself on the grenade, declaring that it’s all her fault the passport isn’t here and that she should be supervising “Mark’s home staff” more closely. Notable by its absence is any suggestion that it could have occurred to Mark that a passport might be helpful to visit South America. Elliot suggests, “Sarah, could you contact the president of Peru to see whether we can get Mark in the country without his passport?” “Yes,” Mark agrees quickly, “that would be good.” “Even Mark Zuckerberg still needs a passport,” I gently tease Mark. It doesn’t go over well. Fortunately, before I’m peer-pressured into making the call to the president of Peru, Mark realizes he doesn’t have some medication he needs. The decision is made ...